


Dead Batteries and Dancing

by UrbanMermaid



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-07
Updated: 2017-09-13
Packaged: 2018-12-22 01:28:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11956836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UrbanMermaid/pseuds/UrbanMermaid
Summary: Jean's car breaks down on his way to Eren's bachelor party.





	1. Chapter 1

Jean kicked the tire on his Jeep Cherokee and growled in frustration. There was no way this could be happening right now. He’d just had the car inspected last month. Why would it break down now? Eren was going to kill him. No, Mikasa was going to kill him. Whose sister even goes to their brother’s bachelor party? It didn’t matter though. He would inevitably be late now. Even if he pretended not to care most of the time, this was actually important to him.

Opening the hood, Jean looked down at the engine, but in all honesty he didn’t know shit about cars. Slamming the hood down, he threw himself back into the car and grabbed his wallet from the seat next to him. He swatted the dirt from the side of the road off his pants as he dialed AAA. The call didn’t last long and the woman on the other end of the phone assured him someone would be there as quickly as possible. He shot a text to Armin, the one who would most likely get the message out of the group and be sober enough to read it, then adjusted himself into a more comfortable position to wait. 

Thirty minutes later, a truck pulled to a stop behind him. He exhaled a short breath of relief and got out, squinting in the sunlight to get a better look at the tall figure walking towards him. When they finally walked out of the sun’s glare Jean’s mouth went dry. “Freckles” was the only coherent word he could process. The guys cheeks were covered in them. It was as if the universe was throwing all his weaknesses at him at once. 

“Hello?” Jean’s brain whiplashed back and he realized the guy had been trying to talk to him. He shook his head a little before letting out a weak “sorry” to which the other guy only nodded.

“Any idea what’s wrong?” He asked again. 

Embarrassed from before, Jean scowled, “Would I have called if I knew?”

The guy just smiled and walked past him, lifting the hood. Jean swallowed before following. He watched as the guy tinkered with a few things, humming softly to himself as he worked. Jean tried not to stare, he really did. His eyes ran over his freckles again, then down to his shirt where he saw the name “Marco” printed. “Marco” spouted off a few things, but Jean had no idea what any of it meant. 

“Basically, we can try to jump it, but you’re probably going to have to get a new battery before it’ll run.” 

“Damn it.” 

What was he going to do? Mikasa was definitely going to kill him. He needed to be there in an hour, but that obviously wasn’t going to happen. Jean hadn’t realized he was muttering angrily, a bad habit, until a hand rested on his arm. He jumped and Marco jerked his hand back and shyly stuttered an apology. Jean waved him off.

“Did you say you were trying to get to Karanes?” Marco asked.

“Uh, yeah.” 

“I’m actually heading there too. I could give you a lift?” Jean felt his legs beginning to tingle. It was just a ride, it didn’t mean anything. He watched Marco raise his shoulders a little, questioning him. 

“That’d be great.” He said stiffly, turning to grab his things out of his car. 

Luckily, he just had a bag packed for a few nights and nothing else since Mikasa had insisted that all the tuxes be taken at once so that no one forgot them. Probably smart because Connie was always forgetting something important when they left on trips. Marco had walked back to his truck so Jean locked his car and headed to the passenger side, tossing his bag into the floorboard before getting in.

“I’m Marco, by the way.” Marco smiled, starting the engine and merging onto the interstate. 

“Jean.” 

“Nice to meet you. I’ll call and let someone know to come get your car.” Jean just nodded.

He didn’t trust his voice right now so he just turned to the window. They rode in silence for a while before Jean began to let himself relax and dare a glance over. He couldn’t stop his eyes from traveling down Marco’s arms and to his hands gripping the wheel. Marco was relaxed, but Jean could still see a long vein trailing down his arm along with a few spattering of freckles. He could feel himself going red as he wondered if he had freckles everywhere so he averted his attention back out the window. It wasn’t long before he felt eyes on him and turned. Marco’s head snapped back to the road and Jean noticed a slow blush creeping up his ears. Clearing his throat, Marco rubbed the back of his neck and spoke, “So, what’s in Karanes?” 

“Bachelor party.” 

“A friend’s?” 

“He’s getting married tomorrow.” He scowled. Most people have parties a few days before they get married these days, not the night before. Stupid Eren putting all this pressure on him. 

“Are you in it?” 

“Yeah.” 

“You didn’t leave anything in your car did you?” He was probably referring to the fact that Jean didn’t have a tux with him. 

“Mikasa made it a point to bring everyone’s tux herself so no one left them, but I am bringing the rings so she’s probably having a meltdown right now because I’m late.” He realized afterwards that Marco didn’t know who Mikasa was.

“I bet she’s pretty anxious to have her date there too.” 

“She’s not my date. I don’t…have a date.” He said, somewhat reluctantly. 

“Oh, sorry. I just assumed.” 

Jean shrugged, “Couldn’t really get one.” 

“I find that hard to believe.” Marco blurted out. Jean raised an eyebrow at him and watched the tops of Marco’s ears turn pink again. “It’s just…um, nevermind. Sorry I said anything.” 

The silence returned and Jean could feel the awkward tension filling the cabin. Marco was embarrassed and was refusing to say another word. 

“I’m not exactly the nicest person, which I’m sure you noticed.” Jean muttered. 

Marco let out a relieved laugh, “Your friend asked you to be in his wedding. I’d say that you’re nice enough to get that recognition.” 

If only he knew how terrible he had been to Eren in the beginning. It was amazing he had friends at all.

“And,” Marco continued, “I’m sure you’ve dated plenty of girls. It must have just been a fluke that you don’t have a date. I mean…”

Marco kept rambling a little. Jean gave him credit. He was trying to hold a conversation with a stranger who just happened to be the world’s crabbiest person, maybe second crabbiest if you counted Levi. Jean almost wanted to laugh at him though. Dated plenty of girls? If only. He’d tried with Mikasa but that didn’t go over too well, and he guessed Armin’s long hair could technically qualify him as girl-like. 

Jean rubbed the back of his neck and a made a non-committal noise to which Marco just turned back to driving. They were silent again until there were signs stating that they were entering Karanes.

“So where are you staying or meeting people?” 

Jean pulled out his phone to look up the address to the hotel everyone was at to which Marco looked at him in with a grin, “I’m staying there too. My cousin needed an extra set of hands to run a reception. She’s a part time party planner and does this a lot.” 

He laughed. As if being forced into labor via family bonds was fun. Jean remembered all the bake sales he’s had to work for his grandmother and scowled.

Marco noticed and hit his shoulder lightly, “It’s not so bad. She usually pays me.” 

Jean fought the urge to rub his arm. They were getting to a more crowded spot in the city and Jean could tell that they would be at the hotel any minute, and for some reason that bothered him. When they pulled up, Marco clapped his hand on Jean’s shoulder.

“Cheer up, you made it.” He said, smiling widely. 

Jean wasn’t sure he was breathing anymore so he just grunted out a thanks and left the truck. When he got up to the hotel doors, he looked back to see Marco give a wave before driving off.  
He finally made it to the room and knocked. The door was flung open and someone threw themselves into his arms. 

“You made it! Armin said you weren’t going to get here.” Jean pushed a slightly drunk Eren off of him.

“Eren, I said he would be late.” Jean heard Armin say from further in the room.

“As long as he showed up with the rings I won’t have to punch him.” Mikasa pinned him with a look as he shut the door behind him. He unzipped a side pocket of his bag and pulled out the box. 

“Glad you made it.” She said as she snatched the box from his hand.

“How’d you get here? Your car?” Connie asked, handing him a drink. 

“Nah, got a ride from the AAA guy.” He shrugged and felt Eren’s eyes on him.

“He was hot.” Was all Eren said and Connie immediately asked for details. 

He told them there was nothing to tell, but if they wanted to find him he was staying somewhere in the hotel and they could be his guest. They all just laughed as he went to go change out of his dusty clothes. Mikasa said she was heading back to her room so they could “live up the night.” Jean wasn’t sure how much more living it up Eren could handle, and if he showed up with a hangover at his own wedding, Jean didn’t want to know what Eren’s fiance would do to them, much less Mikasa.


	2. Chapter 2

After the wedding, they were all seated at a large table in the reception hall talking. The wedding had been great, and if Jean had to wipe his eyes a few times as he watched one of his best friends cry through his vows, then he would later blame it on all the the flowers Levi insisted they had to have. Now, Eren was holding Levi’s hand, using them both to gesture through his conversation with Hange as waiters came in to bring them food. Eren’s eyes met his and he grinned at him, holding up his and Levi’s still intertwined hands triumphantly. Jean tipped his drink in his direction as his food was placed in front of him. It looked pretty good and from the pleased noises Sasha was making across from him he guessed it tasted good as well. He shook his head at her and was about to dig in when something caught his attention, or rather someone. He would recognize the freckled face anywhere now, especially after it had haunted his dreams the night before. It was now paired with a crisp white button down, black tie, and tight black pants. Jean didn’t want to outright stare but there wasn’t much he could do about it at the moment. 

“Earth to Jean,” Connie called snapping him out of his trance by shoving him in the side, “What are you looking at?” He followed Jean’s line of sight.

“Oh wow.” Sasha said, turned around in her chair. 

“That’s him?”He heard Eren balk, also turned around in his seat. 

“Shut up.” He growled, pointedly looking down at his food. 

“Dude, please tell me you got his number or something.” Connie said, but Jean just ignored them all. 

He hadn’t even thought to make the connection of this reception and the one he had been talking about, but now that he thought about it, Ymir did have the same smattering of freckles.  
When they were all finished eating, a few people said toasts before the music began. Dancing wasn’t really his strong point, but to her credit, Sasha did try to help him out. Eventually, Connie stole her back and he moved himself to the side, watching everyone else. Eren was trying to get Levi to do some ridiculous move he had just made up. Levi’s face may have looked unamused, but Jean could see the spark of light in his eyes as he watched and smiled. At least he knew they would be happy, even if Levi’s exterior could say otherwise sometimes.

“That guy seems a bit...intense.” A voice said behind him. He turned to see Marco holding a handful of plates and watching Levi. Jean wasn’t sure what to do so he just shrugged.

“He’s not so bad once you get to know him.”

“And what about you?” Marco asked, sliding his eyes back to him. He watched them look over him and felt a shiver he tried to suppress.

“What about me?”

“Do people say that about you once they get to know you?” Jean just shrugged again, his throat dry. Marco laughed and pushed the stack of plates into his hands, telling him to follow him. 

“What are you doing?” Jean asked, following anyways.

“Getting to know you. Plus, I needed another set of hands.” Marco winked before grabbing another stack of plates and heading into the kitchen. Jean tripped over a chair leg as he followed and he  
swore he heard Eren bark out a laugh at the exact same moment. The kitchen was busy so he just held the plates until Marco took them from him, setting them in a large sink before pulling on his tie, slipping it off.

“Thanks. Now I’m finally done and my cousin owes me 200 bucks.”

“Ymir’s paying you 200 dollars?” Jean asked, disbelieving. He had cleaned out her entire garage and she had thrown a crumpled ten at him and a box of Cheez-Its. Granted it was a few years ago and they had all been pretty broke at the time. Marco looked at him surprised for a moment before grinning, “Small world right? Come on, Jean.” He turned, waving a hand for Jean to follow. They headed out a backdoor and he saw Marco’s truck parked at the curb. 

“So, how was the wedding?” Marco asked as he unlocked the door and leaned in to rummage around in the back. Jean stopped a few feet away from him. 

“It was good. Really good,” When Marco didn’t respond he felt like he needed to fill the silence, “Five years ago, none of us would have thought we would be here really. Especially Eren. He had a lot of shit going on, and I can’t say I was the greatest of friends at first. He deserves this though. He’s a great guy and I’m happy for him, ya know.”

Marco stopped rummaging and poked his head out to looked him over. 

“They would.” He finally said. When Jean’s brow furrowed in confusion Marco clarified, “People would say you aren’t so bad when they get to know you. And you don’t look half bad either.” His eyes looked him up and down again. Jean was impressed that he had the nerve to outright check him out again.

Jean grinned, “You clean up pretty nicely as well.”

Marco’s ear turned pink again but smiled slyly, “Yeah well, you didn’t seem to have a problem looking at me yesterday either.” Jean felt his whole face flush and Marco laughed. Yes, he was definitely related to Ymir. 

“Pick one.” Marco said and Jean took a few steps closer as Marco held up two shirts, one blue and one purple. Jean was drawn to the purple and how it already looked against his tan skin. He realized he was taking too long. 

“Purple.” 

Marco threw the other one into the truck and started unbuttoning his shirt. Jean quickly averted his eyes after glimpsing some of his tan, and yes freckled, chest. Marco undid the rest of the buttons and Jean watched the shirt slip off, peeking a glance at a toned torso and arms before looking away again. When Marco was done changing Jean still wasn’t looking at him. 

“Jean.” He said softly. 

Jean looked up. Marco had taken the last few steps towards him and now there was barely any space between them. Marco looked at him, flicked his eyes down to his lips , then back up again, searching. After a few seconds he grinned faintly and moved his head in, brushing his lips against Jean’s. Jean let out a sigh and felt Marco smile against his lips before kissing him fully. As their lips moved against each other, Jean’s hands found Marco’s waist and pulled him closer. Marco’s hand ran through Jean’s hair, nails running over the base of his grown out undercut. Jean tugged him tighter and he felt Marco laugh against him. Eventually, Marco pushed him back, dragging Jean’s bottom lip with him as they separated, causing a shiver Jean couldn’t suppress this time. They both looked at each other as they caught their breaths.

“Still need a date to the wedding?” Marco asked. Jean could only nod.

“Good, because I saw you on that dance floor and I seriously need to teach you some things.”

Jean glared at him but Marco just leaned forwards and pecked him on the lips again, then took his hand and led him inside. He vaguely heard an “I knew it. Good job” from Eren as he was pulled past him and Levi. He shot him a rude hand gesture before Marco yanked on his arm, then grabbed his hips, whispering into his ear about following the music until Jean wasn’t so stiff and Marco was beaming. If trying to learn how to dance with Marco was like this, then Jean was sure he’d probably learn anything for Marco. Maybe he’d even learn to love him.


End file.
